The Pentagon is refusing to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests for specific data on the volume of subcontracts awarded by any of the nation's twelve largest defense contractors participating in the 25-year-old Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program.

On May 13, the Center for Effective Government joined other open government organizations in urging Attorney General Eric Holder not to appeal the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York Times Co. v. Department of Justice. In April, the Second Circuit ruled that the government must disclose the legal analysis justifying the government's drone-based targeted killing program, in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Times.

How do the federal courts define who is a legitimate "representative of the news media"? According to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, that's "any person or organization which regularly publishes or disseminates information to the public."

But does a nonprofit watchdog group that advocates and litigates on behalf of the public's right to know what the government is doing also qualify as a representative of the news media?

Last week, in response to a Freedom of Information request filed by Judicial Watch, the White House released a memo related to Benghazi that was authored by Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communication. The four-page m...

The National Archives and Records Administration will create a committee to improve the way the government process Freedom of Information Act request, a May 5 Federal Register notice says.

"NARA has determined that the creation of the FOIA Advisory Committee is in the public interest due to the expertise and valuable advice the Committee members will provide on issues related to improving the administration of FOIA," the notice says.

Given all the hype around so called big data at the moment, it would be easy to dismiss it as nothing more than the latest technology buzzword. This would be a mistake, given that the application and interpretation of huge – often publicly available – data sets is already supporting new models of creativity, innovation and engagement.

To date, stories of big data's progress and successes have tended to come from government and the private sector, but we've heard little about its relevance to social organisations. Yet big data can fuel big social change.

Recently, in a victory for open data, both chambers of Congress passed with bipartisan support the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act. The bill now heads to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature. The DATA Act would dra...